Here is the following address for my website:
http://community.wvu.edu/~naa004/index.html
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Taking Stock No. 10 pg. 48
I do agree slightly with what I wrote on my first taking stock. I really think that I will be able to excel in my reflection skills due to the fact that my capstone professor drilled us over and over (twice per week) on reflections that would be required to be somewhere between two to six pages long sometimes. In regards to creativity, I do find myself to be creative, but I find my creativity to be a little tacky for the poster project. I like using glitter, stickers, cut-outs, pop-ups, and complimenting colors. However, for the poster, I am trying to use the complimenting colors, be neat and organized in presenting the information, and keep the poster looking simple yet interesting as well. Also, I do not think that I am used to composing something so precise in terms of a portfolio because in my other capstone portfolio, I honestly did not try my hardest because the portfolio was not for our benefit: the portfolio was for the English Department's benefit and we were not graded on it! However, I will have to be precise in my word choice, organization, and explanation of what I want others to see in my work and most importantly, my improvement.
Tedious Tasks
I will only have one more task where I will produce or create something probably. Since, I worked a 40-hour work week the conference week, three weeks were shaved off my time. However, I am still going in at least two times a week for about 4-6 hours to help Mary, my boss, out even though my time finished two weeks ago. Mostly, I am calling people about whether they attended the conference or not for paperwork purposes to process the scholarship recipients. Also, I am writing letters for a re-do of their W-9 because they may not have put down the correct information if any at all! Like I said, I will only have one more creative task to do and that is have another meeting with the assitant editors of the journal on another manuscript that I copyedited. It is unbelievable to think that I worked nearly three months on a project that lasted three days and now it is over! It is a complete, satisfying feeling, but I am quite bored (and tired) now. The conference was wonderful in terms of running smoothly and getting information to the participants and attendees; yet, in the words of my boss, "It is like planning a party that we don't get to go to!" which is exactly true. I did not get to attend any of the sessions except mine and another poetry reading. I stayed behind the counter with scholarship registration for three days, but I was able to help tremendously with some of the questions because Mary prepped me for them for nearly a week before working.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
It's Over!
The conference is now over, and I am pretty much out of work now! I only have a few more hours to work after my 42 hour week last week, so I will not be going to the office as much as I used to. The conference went wonderful: it was the largest that ASA has ever had.
On Friday and Saturday, I worked the scholarship desk where people had to come up to receive their scholarships, sign off that they will receive them, and sign a W-9 form for ASA's tax purposes next year. I did leave at 2:00 on Friday to do my presentation. As I stated before, I felt as if I had to completely redo my presenation due to audience. I really wanted to affect the people who were watching. I believe I did that, but I am not really sure if that was the goal (which I thought it should be). The other presenters talked about their specific research that really wasn't relative to any of our lives. One presenter in my session talked about the lives of five different girls from Appalachia and their journey throughout high school and college, but they didn't make any conclusion or state any relavence that this had. Also, another presenter talked about making maps of home and what the patterns were in terms of gender, race, heritage, education, etc. HOwever, he did not relate these or make conclusions about how people think. I believe my presentation went well in terms of how I was relaxed and being organized. However, I know that I should have incorporated more of my actual research project and the fossil idea into it.
The highlight of my weekend though was seeing Silas House, a novelist, who was absolutely brilliant and hilarious in his talk about Appalachian people and coal mining. I can't wait to attend and hopefully help with it next year.
On Friday and Saturday, I worked the scholarship desk where people had to come up to receive their scholarships, sign off that they will receive them, and sign a W-9 form for ASA's tax purposes next year. I did leave at 2:00 on Friday to do my presentation. As I stated before, I felt as if I had to completely redo my presenation due to audience. I really wanted to affect the people who were watching. I believe I did that, but I am not really sure if that was the goal (which I thought it should be). The other presenters talked about their specific research that really wasn't relative to any of our lives. One presenter in my session talked about the lives of five different girls from Appalachia and their journey throughout high school and college, but they didn't make any conclusion or state any relavence that this had. Also, another presenter talked about making maps of home and what the patterns were in terms of gender, race, heritage, education, etc. HOwever, he did not relate these or make conclusions about how people think. I believe my presentation went well in terms of how I was relaxed and being organized. However, I know that I should have incorporated more of my actual research project and the fossil idea into it.
The highlight of my weekend though was seeing Silas House, a novelist, who was absolutely brilliant and hilarious in his talk about Appalachian people and coal mining. I can't wait to attend and hopefully help with it next year.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Abstract: Almost Ready for the Conference
We are almost ready to begin the conference--only three days away! Things have surprisingly been pretty slow probably due to the fact that we have all been working so hard for the past three months on this conference, and everything seems to be in order. I received an email from plenary session leader, and she wished to receive an abstract and a bibliography in order to introduce my presentation.
Unfortunately, I realized that my audience is much, much more different, and now, I am forced to take another direction with my presentation. The first presentation on my research was in my capstone class: the assignment was to present on something that we felt like presenting on. For maybe half of the presentation, I read excerpts from my research paper which was on Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees. I looked at identity and how the main character, Missy, wanted to get away from her rural surroundings. However, like I said, I am going to have to change my presentation somewhat. I feel that my audience is going to be different and they really won't find any relevance for me analyzing a book. Therefore, I am going to present on out-migration in West Virginia and use an idea of a "fossil" which in this case acts as a negative thing that sticks in someone's mind and changes other ideas that come their way. I am re-writing much of my presentation and I will be briefly describing what I started researching to get to what I am presenting on now. First, I introduce myself and then talk about the problem of youth out-migration, what a fossil is, how it works, some of the "fossils" that we get like the media calling us hillbillies, rednecks, etc., and then talk about what this does to our mentalities. I think that this approach will be much more effective in touching someone's life.
Unfortunately, I realized that my audience is much, much more different, and now, I am forced to take another direction with my presentation. The first presentation on my research was in my capstone class: the assignment was to present on something that we felt like presenting on. For maybe half of the presentation, I read excerpts from my research paper which was on Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees. I looked at identity and how the main character, Missy, wanted to get away from her rural surroundings. However, like I said, I am going to have to change my presentation somewhat. I feel that my audience is going to be different and they really won't find any relevance for me analyzing a book. Therefore, I am going to present on out-migration in West Virginia and use an idea of a "fossil" which in this case acts as a negative thing that sticks in someone's mind and changes other ideas that come their way. I am re-writing much of my presentation and I will be briefly describing what I started researching to get to what I am presenting on now. First, I introduce myself and then talk about the problem of youth out-migration, what a fossil is, how it works, some of the "fossils" that we get like the media calling us hillbillies, rednecks, etc., and then talk about what this does to our mentalities. I think that this approach will be much more effective in touching someone's life.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Press Releases
I just finished work on two press releases on the Appalachian Studies Conference and the music that will be offered after the conference. I found this to be a challenge. I had to become familiar with the layout of Marshall University press releases. Most seemed to introduce the event broadly in the beginning and then go into detail in the middle and beginning. I found that it was difficult to fit all of the information into the nine to ten very short paragraphs. Also, I had to be very specific in which words to use to describe the conference since it was so limited: I felt like I was writing a poem! Thankfully, my boss only wanted a rough outline of each press release, so he could tweak and add where he saw appropriate. He did include some quotations from the president of ASA, Shauna Scott. He also included some information about the plenary sessions. He has not reviewed the music press release yet, but I believe that he will find the press release to be better than the first. I tried to organize it in chronological order--performers on Friday and then Saturday. I used phrases from the little information he sent, knew, and was available on the local musicians. However, he will be completing two paragraphs on artists that I do not have information on.
Friday, March 14, 2008
WPG Tasks 2 and 3
WPG Task #2
My portfolio will be a best work portfolio that will display all of the previous documents that I have edited and created. I am only half way through my internship and I already have five or six large projects. Since my internship is a little bit different in being that I am not a Professional Writing major, I want to show the broad range of skills I've learned and basic concepts I have learned about being a Professional Writing major through the course of work in my internship. I will be including all of the documents I have stated already in the previous posts. I'm not sure but I don't think I should have a goal of showing how knowledgable I am about all of the things I've been doing: I have just started this process this semester and can only expect to understand a broad range of topics and tasks that can be taught in a semester of Professional Writing instead of four years like many of the other majors. Again, I wrote all of the different sections of the web portfolio in the "Internal Portfolio" as in stating the different classes I've taken, the pictures that inspire me, the projects, etc.
Task #3
Like I said earlier, I want to show that I have gained some hands-on knowledge of different tasks. I touched on some of my goals in the "Internal Portfolio" again, but I have decided not to include other classes with my writing process. I want to show my progress through all of the projects. I am going to restate what I want to do within my portfolio though
1. An introduction page for what to expect in the portfolio, my purpose (to show that I've engaged and worked with others in producing the best documents under certain amounts of time), my goals (to show that I have gained some initial PWE knowledge), how to navigate through the webpage, and briefly discuss how I achieved my goals
2. A conclusion that restates what I achieved and how I achieved it
3. Separate the writing into processes with reflections that intervene between the drafts (with the help of the blog reflections I have been writing)
4. Design an easy, yet creative way to navigate through the pages and display links
5. Include an inspiration page with pictures of my daughter, fiance, nature, passions, my home, etc. that keep me grounded and motivated
6. Include an about me section
7. Inventory of classes (not sure if this fits with my new goals)
2. A conclusion that restates what I achieved and how I achieved it
3. Separate the writing into processes with reflections that intervene between the drafts (with the help of the blog reflections I have been writing)
4. Design an easy, yet creative way to navigate through the pages and display links
5. Include an inspiration page with pictures of my daughter, fiance, nature, passions, my home, etc. that keep me grounded and motivated
6. Include an about me section
7. Inventory of classes (not sure if this fits with my new goals)
TAKING STOCK 7 - 8 PG. 34 & 39
Taking Stock 7
Honestly, I am not very familiar with West Virginia University's writing program qualifications and what they specifically want their students to know how to do basically before they graduate. However, I looked on the West Virginia University, Professional Writing degree, and they give some standards that they would like their students to strive for. I will state the following standards in order of what I believe to be importance. Then, I will include why I believe these to be very important standards.Writing for specific purpose and audience
The website states the following statement, "Professional writing and editing courses enable students to work with specialized and complex information... in areas of business, industry, public relations, journalism, science, medicine, and government." I find this the most important because whichever job the student lands, they must transform their writing style and content in order for it to be appropriate with their audience and goals.
Effective, clear, and creative creating
The website states the following statement that students need to "develop skills of graphic and textual production for reports, manuals, grants, research proposals, and other business and technical documents.” This goes hand-in-hand with the above standard because both are key to magnificent work. By providing a unique, creative interpretation of a document and even providing a visual effect to a document may make someone actually read more intensely or become more interested.
Taking Stock 8
The best part about my working folder is that I am highly, highly organized. I made sure to keep all drafts of documents on the computer. I want to highlight many projects so far and my processes in doing them.
1. ASA Conference Program - editing
2. Journal Manuscript - editing
3. CSEGA Board Meeting - minutes
4. Journal of Appalachian Studies Booth - poster design and pricelist
5. Press Releases - conference and music
6. Conference Presenation - Abstract, Powerpoint, and Speech Notes
What I really love most about my work is the diversity of it all. I have done and will be doing--I imagine-- a little bit of everything. I started out editing and now I am typing out notes, designing posters, creating press releases, and preparing for my conference presentation, which is the largest project. I also like the very short deadlines. I feel that my creativity can be really harnessed with these.
I think I already sort of did this in great detail in the post, Organizing my Internal Portfolio.
PR and Design
Designing the booth for the conference seemed to be a little easier than I had anticipated. I ran the Appalachian photos idea with my boss, Mary, and she absolutely loved the idea! I was going to go back to my home, a rural town with much Appalachian soul, to take pictures, but I ultimately decided not to take anymore but to display the ones I already had on with my family. I felt they were real and they were Appalachian. I turned the pictures into black and white slightly to make them look more sophisticated than before. I was really worried about looking professional because I was representing a national organization.
I ended up choosing a large title-- Journal of Appalachian Studies--and included a small, catchy line that says, "Read about the faces of Appalachia." The three photographs include my grandfather, my daughter, and my aunt. I chose these three photographs in order to spark conversation and interest to the Journal. I chose these three because they represent the three generations in Appalachia. My grandfather is eighty-five and was an iron worker for thirty years before he retired. He didn't get to finish high school because he was sent to the Hawaiian Islands during World War II and experienced the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He is part of the generation that remembers living off of the landMy aunt is in the middle--sort of the baby boomers generation. However, she only has a high school education and works as a housekeeper at a retirement home. Finally, my daughter is in the middle. She is only four months old and represents the future of Appalachia. Also, I put her in the center, not only because she is adorable and eye-catching as a little baby, but she has much promise and opportunity left--not really like that of the other two. She also contrasts very nicely against my grandfather since he looks much, much older and sort of physically worn down compared to my daughter who is smiling and full of life. Like I said, I really hope these photographs spark conversation because my goals while stationed at the booth is to create interest in Appalachia, get others to subscribe to the journal and buy from it, and to become interested in ASA's other ventures like CSEGA.
I ended up choosing a large title-- Journal of Appalachian Studies--and included a small, catchy line that says, "Read about the faces of Appalachia." The three photographs include my grandfather, my daughter, and my aunt. I chose these three photographs in order to spark conversation and interest to the Journal. I chose these three because they represent the three generations in Appalachia. My grandfather is eighty-five and was an iron worker for thirty years before he retired. He didn't get to finish high school because he was sent to the Hawaiian Islands during World War II and experienced the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He is part of the generation that remembers living off of the landMy aunt is in the middle--sort of the baby boomers generation. However, she only has a high school education and works as a housekeeper at a retirement home. Finally, my daughter is in the middle. She is only four months old and represents the future of Appalachia. Also, I put her in the center, not only because she is adorable and eye-catching as a little baby, but she has much promise and opportunity left--not really like that of the other two. She also contrasts very nicely against my grandfather since he looks much, much older and sort of physically worn down compared to my daughter who is smiling and full of life. Like I said, I really hope these photographs spark conversation because my goals while stationed at the booth is to create interest in Appalachia, get others to subscribe to the journal and buy from it, and to become interested in ASA's other ventures like CSEGA.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Introduction to Design
I have a new, exciting task for this week--design the entire booth for the Appalachian Studies Journal at the Appalachian Studies Conference. Aside from my presentation, I will be in charge of running the booth. Therefore, I have to design a schedule for volunteers, prep them about the history and information about the Appalachian Studies Association, design the poster and banner, organize the journals to sell, and create a price list for the available journals.
I am finding that creating the vision for the way the booth will look is posing the most trouble because I must understand my audience and how to attract them. Also, I must understand their purpose. First, I find that my audience may possibly be scholars in the realm of academia. Most importantly though, the Appalachian Studies Association has a purpose for the booth--to sell the journal, sell membership, and spread information about the journal for the sake of Appalachian studies. Therefore, I must make the visuals look convincing, authentic, professional, interesting, etc. The problem I am having is taste: my taste is quite different than what I would believe older academia would be. I feel that I must tone down my design to something more sophisticated, yet I am not sure whether or not that will be too boring. Currently, this is the problem I seem to be experiencing. I am not familiar with designing for a specific purpose or audience, but I guess it is similar to that of writing for a specific purpose or audience in finding the best suitable fit. I will keep writing on my progress throughout the design because I will be doing this project for at least a week.
Also, I attended the CSEGA advisory board meeting. Honestly, I usually find these a little stiff, boring, and not worthwhile, but I have had a change of heart with this particular meeting and organization. I even suggested to get the students involved in spreading information about Appalachian research.
I am finding that creating the vision for the way the booth will look is posing the most trouble because I must understand my audience and how to attract them. Also, I must understand their purpose. First, I find that my audience may possibly be scholars in the realm of academia. Most importantly though, the Appalachian Studies Association has a purpose for the booth--to sell the journal, sell membership, and spread information about the journal for the sake of Appalachian studies. Therefore, I must make the visuals look convincing, authentic, professional, interesting, etc. The problem I am having is taste: my taste is quite different than what I would believe older academia would be. I feel that I must tone down my design to something more sophisticated, yet I am not sure whether or not that will be too boring. Currently, this is the problem I seem to be experiencing. I am not familiar with designing for a specific purpose or audience, but I guess it is similar to that of writing for a specific purpose or audience in finding the best suitable fit. I will keep writing on my progress throughout the design because I will be doing this project for at least a week.
Also, I attended the CSEGA advisory board meeting. Honestly, I usually find these a little stiff, boring, and not worthwhile, but I have had a change of heart with this particular meeting and organization. I even suggested to get the students involved in spreading information about Appalachian research.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Organizing My Internal Portfolio
The last week has been quite a bore in terms of work for the journal and the conference. I have only done a few tasks around the office like familiarizing myself with the files (and carrying on the task of reorganizing them) and checking the registration sheets for the conference. I understand that this will only make my work with the conference and the journal that much more better and quicker, but I have not had such a grueling week as last week.
Therefore, I have spent most of my internship hours trying to organize my thoughts for the final web portfolio. Hopefully, this counts as reflection on my work. Since I am not really a Professional Writing major, I feel that many of my other classes are highly imperative to my overall writing process. Therefore, while looking at the helpful online web portfolios from other students (provided by Dr. Wible), I am attempting to look at what I want to achieve from this web portfolio whether it be a job, an academic placement, and/or personal growth. Honestly, I want my web portfolio to include aspects that will hit each of these purposes with audiences that correspond to them accordingly.
I am briefly going to list what I wish to include in my web portfolio so they will be almost like tasks to get me started in exposing myself and my writing.
1. An introduction page for what to expect in the portfolio, my purpose, my goals,
how to navigate through the webpage, and briefly discuss how I achieved my goals
2. A conclusion that restates what I achieved and how I achieved it
3. Separate the writing into processes with reflections that intervene between the
drafts
4. Add writing sections for other classes and editing sections for internship purposes
and describe how writing has helped me develop my editing skills
5. Include a resume
6. Design an easy, yet creative way to navigate through the pages and display links
7. Include an inspiration page with pictures of my daughter, fiance, nature, passions,
my home, etc. that keep me grounded and motivated
8. Include an about me section
9. Inventory of classes and writing samples from specific classes
I think this is the majority of my needs for my portfolio. Now, I must go about getting started at least on what I can. I do have a brief question: where do we access webpages or web space for the portfolio?
Here is a little picture that I will include in my inspiration (number 7) which is an extremely important section for me because I am doing all of this not only for myself but for them as well, and they are there pushing and supporting me in fulfilling my dreams.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Busy, Busy Bees
I feel like I have been a worker bee for the past week and a half or so in my internships! I have been working on one major project the past week, and this is proofreading the program that hundreds of people at the conference will be receiving upon registration. After reviewing and checking for maticulous little errors over and over and over again, I did become a little frustrated and I felt sort of a like a failure because I was so frustrated and felt like I really couldn't check the document any more. The program director kept redoing and adding different things to the program each day and I would have to correct the changes that I made earlier to new changes. However, I was forced to realize that it wasn't his fault: all of the nitpicky work was necessary to produce a great program for the conference. My final job was probably the most satisfactory though because I took the index of the program and compared each name to where and when the presenter was in the program. I found probably over fifty changes in about four hours of work. It was very rewarding and satisfying when doing this.
I find that a large part of my internship is the allowance of networking. I met with the copyeditor, Cris Clifford, for the journal yesterday. We are meeting sometime next month along with another copy editor, Linda Spatig (who I keep in touch with also) about a manuscript that will included in the upcoming journal. I have also been in charge of putting together the CSEGA board member panel, organizing their board meeting, and making sure I am able to attend to take the minuets for that. I have met numerous professors that offer advice about graduate school and offer extraordinary field experiences. I am able to keep in touch with the program supervisor, Dr. Green. Lastly, my "boss" is Mary Thomas who is over the Appalachian Studies Department at Marshall University and she puts her trust in me whole-heartedly. I truly appreciate her belief because I think our friendship and correspendence will only lead to a very positive experience for me in the internship (under her direct guidance) and while job searching in the future.
My goals for this upcoming week is now to do some normal office duties because I have been putting in about five to six hours extra at home during this busy time. Things in the office have been dying down for a couple of days, so this may break may provide me some rest for the busy conference time!
I find that a large part of my internship is the allowance of networking. I met with the copyeditor, Cris Clifford, for the journal yesterday. We are meeting sometime next month along with another copy editor, Linda Spatig (who I keep in touch with also) about a manuscript that will included in the upcoming journal. I have also been in charge of putting together the CSEGA board member panel, organizing their board meeting, and making sure I am able to attend to take the minuets for that. I have met numerous professors that offer advice about graduate school and offer extraordinary field experiences. I am able to keep in touch with the program supervisor, Dr. Green. Lastly, my "boss" is Mary Thomas who is over the Appalachian Studies Department at Marshall University and she puts her trust in me whole-heartedly. I truly appreciate her belief because I think our friendship and correspendence will only lead to a very positive experience for me in the internship (under her direct guidance) and while job searching in the future.
My goals for this upcoming week is now to do some normal office duties because I have been putting in about five to six hours extra at home during this busy time. Things in the office have been dying down for a couple of days, so this may break may provide me some rest for the busy conference time!
Response to Page 19
Maria is definetely being a reflective learner when she is evaluating her work on her project. She is being critical that she did not use the correct writing process and did not listen to her peers when they suggested that her thesis was too broad. Her admittance of her mistakes of not taking her peers' advice and keeping the historical parts of her paper in when they are not relevant to her new, specific thesis shows she is critical of her writing and wants to improve her writing as much as she can.
Surprisingly, most of my personal creative writing comes from writing in the middle of the night or a life event. I will be asleep and wake up with an idea to write: I write immediately in order to capture my emotions and feelings. Also, my best ideas come to me after some sort of inspiring event in my life or a realization about something. For instance, I was driven to capture my mom's struggle with lung cancer because it inspired me so much. However, when writing simple facts or papers for school I find more concentration and organization of the paper in the afternoon hours. I seem more distracted and unable to organize my thoughts into an appropriate, tight thesis and supporting evidence the later in the day it is.
In the summer, I used to do my best brainstorming outside because it reminds me of my comforting home so much. When I feel comfortable, I am able to relax and not worry about whether my writing is wrong or right. Now, I must be in a dimly lit room with soft, inspirational music to do my best work.
I especially like to have a pencil and a personal journal with me when I write. Also, I like to have colored chalks because I like to illustrate much of what I write. This became apparent when I felt the need to illustrate my journal entries and creative projects for school. Again, I like to have a dim light on and soft, inspirational music which to me is Alison Krauss.
Most of all, I believe all of these habits or preferences state that I am a very interactive learner: I like to surround myself with all of the arts. Also, I think I am definitely more of a creative writer more than I guess conventional or the norm. I like to add other types of creativity to my writing by adding drawings or even putting them in scrapbooks that may correlate with the context of the work.
Surprisingly, most of my personal creative writing comes from writing in the middle of the night or a life event. I will be asleep and wake up with an idea to write: I write immediately in order to capture my emotions and feelings. Also, my best ideas come to me after some sort of inspiring event in my life or a realization about something. For instance, I was driven to capture my mom's struggle with lung cancer because it inspired me so much. However, when writing simple facts or papers for school I find more concentration and organization of the paper in the afternoon hours. I seem more distracted and unable to organize my thoughts into an appropriate, tight thesis and supporting evidence the later in the day it is.
In the summer, I used to do my best brainstorming outside because it reminds me of my comforting home so much. When I feel comfortable, I am able to relax and not worry about whether my writing is wrong or right. Now, I must be in a dimly lit room with soft, inspirational music to do my best work.
I especially like to have a pencil and a personal journal with me when I write. Also, I like to have colored chalks because I like to illustrate much of what I write. This became apparent when I felt the need to illustrate my journal entries and creative projects for school. Again, I like to have a dim light on and soft, inspirational music which to me is Alison Krauss.
Most of all, I believe all of these habits or preferences state that I am a very interactive learner: I like to surround myself with all of the arts. Also, I think I am definitely more of a creative writer more than I guess conventional or the norm. I like to add other types of creativity to my writing by adding drawings or even putting them in scrapbooks that may correlate with the context of the work.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Page 7 Taking Stock
Since my major is actually English Literature, I was required to compile an evaluation portfolio to exit English 420, my Capstone course, to aid the English Department in how well they have prepared me during my academic career with them, and to choose whether I may graduate or not based on the quality of my work in the portfolio. Therefore, I am fairly familiar with evaluation portfolios. I worked a semester on putting together a practice portfolio and a semester putting together bits and pieces of my work throughout my college career. The English Department listed specific goals that they looked for their English graduate to achieve; thus, my Capstone professor made us find an older paper we had wrote that achieved one of the goals, revise the paper thoroughly, place it in its appropriate position in the portfolio, and then reflect on our processes with the paper and how it fits the criteria for the specific goal. We had two assignments per week due throughout the semester on our portfolio. Although the reflections were the most gruesome and most time consuming, in the end the evaluators (other professors) commented on our reflecting skills.
I think I will do well on reflecting and responding in the blog weekly. I am used to reflecting on my work (as stated above). Also, I like to read and be involved in a community where others are able to relate to what I'm doing, what I love, what I'm having trouble with, etc. Also, I think I will do well on the poster exhibit because in my spare time, I put together scrapbooks and photo albums. I love being creative and I think I can put my internship into good use to the Department in terms of being appealing to future students by showing off how fun writing professionally can be and its importance.
I find that I am having to work extra hard just within my internship to be able to copyedit correctly in knowing the correct styles and marks to include. Also, I would really like to know more about the portfolio and whether it is a learning portfolio or an evaluative portfolio. Hopefully, it will be a learning portfolio that can show my progress instead of my expertise because I feel that I will be far behind the other students within the class in terms of know ing how to edit correctly and writing in specific styles.
I think that I am confident within my writing and reading history in terms of writing for an audience. I took a Creative Writing class and an Expository Writing class where we did exercises that taught us to write for different audiences and purposes; thus, I can write and present to lure future students to the program. Again, I am hesitant with the lack of reading and writing I have done professionally. I did conduct an entire weekly newsletter for a computer company I worked for once where I had to use specific jargon and write solely for employees' eyes only: I should feel a little confident within my writing but not so much copyediting.
I think I will do well on reflecting and responding in the blog weekly. I am used to reflecting on my work (as stated above). Also, I like to read and be involved in a community where others are able to relate to what I'm doing, what I love, what I'm having trouble with, etc. Also, I think I will do well on the poster exhibit because in my spare time, I put together scrapbooks and photo albums. I love being creative and I think I can put my internship into good use to the Department in terms of being appealing to future students by showing off how fun writing professionally can be and its importance.
I find that I am having to work extra hard just within my internship to be able to copyedit correctly in knowing the correct styles and marks to include. Also, I would really like to know more about the portfolio and whether it is a learning portfolio or an evaluative portfolio. Hopefully, it will be a learning portfolio that can show my progress instead of my expertise because I feel that I will be far behind the other students within the class in terms of know ing how to edit correctly and writing in specific styles.
I think that I am confident within my writing and reading history in terms of writing for an audience. I took a Creative Writing class and an Expository Writing class where we did exercises that taught us to write for different audiences and purposes; thus, I can write and present to lure future students to the program. Again, I am hesitant with the lack of reading and writing I have done professionally. I did conduct an entire weekly newsletter for a computer company I worked for once where I had to use specific jargon and write solely for employees' eyes only: I should feel a little confident within my writing but not so much copyediting.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The First Week: Getting My Feet Wet
The first week has led my mind and my heart towards this type of work. On Thursday of this week, I was allowed to view a meeting on possibly getting an Appalachian Studies Bachelor's Degree started at Marshall University and the steps that had to be taken in order to achieve this magnificent goal. This was extremely exciting to me! I was able to participate in an opportunity that would change lives within Appalachia: most of the Appalachian Studies degree would join with the Humanities Graduate Program at Marshall University and focus on mostly non-profit work within West Virginia and surrounding Appalachian including advocating for issues like mountaintop removal, migration (which is my internship research emphasis), and even education. Within the degree, discussion led to specializing the degree towards individual students' interests. Therefore, after the meeting, I learned that I will take on yet another task within my internship which is possibly working towards writing proposals, writing releases to the community, faculty and students, and offering support of the future Appalachian Bachelor's Degree program.
Honestly, many days are devoted to office duties which include emailing, photocopying, running errands, etc. However, I am able to meet many contacts within the field of Professional Writing; thus, this gives me a sense of connection within the community of Professional Writing and what I might do after graduation.
A very important aspect of my internship this week was copyediting a manuscript for the Appalachian Studies Journal; therefore, I was forced to use the correct copyediting symbols which proved to be very difficult without much knowledge of them prior to the internship. Being in the situation where I am taking the internship on basically an elective, I am still enjoying gaining important, relevant skills for my English Literature Degree and its future use. I do have a question to how I would specifically learn these symbols easily. Would it just be practice, practice, practice?
Also, I copyediting the preliminary program, a document of roughly twenty pages, for the Appalachian Studies Conference. Here, I learned the importance of the tediousness and preciseness in writing. This single program is the basis for success at the Appalachian Studies Conference and the main source of knowledge for the academic community including professors, students, researchers, protesters, etc. who attend the conference. Thus, precision and accuracy in all aspects of writing including punctuation and context must be on point.
MAIN LESSON OF THE WEEK:
Ten people may proofread a document ten times each and not catch the single mistake left in the document. When you think that you have it perfect, keep looking.
Honestly, many days are devoted to office duties which include emailing, photocopying, running errands, etc. However, I am able to meet many contacts within the field of Professional Writing; thus, this gives me a sense of connection within the community of Professional Writing and what I might do after graduation.
A very important aspect of my internship this week was copyediting a manuscript for the Appalachian Studies Journal; therefore, I was forced to use the correct copyediting symbols which proved to be very difficult without much knowledge of them prior to the internship. Being in the situation where I am taking the internship on basically an elective, I am still enjoying gaining important, relevant skills for my English Literature Degree and its future use. I do have a question to how I would specifically learn these symbols easily. Would it just be practice, practice, practice?
Also, I copyediting the preliminary program, a document of roughly twenty pages, for the Appalachian Studies Conference. Here, I learned the importance of the tediousness and preciseness in writing. This single program is the basis for success at the Appalachian Studies Conference and the main source of knowledge for the academic community including professors, students, researchers, protesters, etc. who attend the conference. Thus, precision and accuracy in all aspects of writing including punctuation and context must be on point.
MAIN LESSON OF THE WEEK:
Ten people may proofread a document ten times each and not catch the single mistake left in the document. When you think that you have it perfect, keep looking.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
THE BEGINNING
This week has been basically focused on "getting the feel" for the way Professional Writing works within the real world. First, I am completing my internship under the guidance of the Journal of Appalachian Studies hosted at Marshall University's campus. I have learned that much of my experience within the internship this semester will be to administer help in a multitude of ways to hosting the Appalachian Studies Association's annual conference at Marshall University called "The Road Ahead: The Next Thirty Years of Appalachian Studies." The most exciting contribution of my internship is to present a piece on the migration problem occurring within Appalachia at the conference (inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees).
Although my main focus this semester will not be copyediting or dealing with manuscripts, I will have the opportunity to learn how to copyedit under the direction of their hired copyeditor, Chris Clifford, and even participate in revising some of the manuscripts for the journal. One major adjustment that I will have to learn this semester when I copyedit is to change the manuscripts submitted and approved for the journal from MLA format to the journal's accepted Chicago format. Within the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, the most challenging is memorizing how to correctly write the references. Major differences of the Chicago Style from the MLA style include that quotation marks are never used and the date is stated at the begin instead of at the end in an author-date format instead of an author-work format. Why would this format be used? Is it because the dates are more important when referencing in terms of the evidence being accurate and up-to-date instead of merely obviously stating the work the author created?
Currently, until some manuscripts are ready for review and revision, I am working on my project that I will be presenting at the conference. I have a very limited time frame at the conference and I want to tie in my inspiration (Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Bean Trees) and the major problem within Appalachia. My main argument is mostly looking at the problem at a psychological viewpoint as to where the society's negative stereotypes of Appalachia affect Appalachians' beliefs about themselves in to where they want to escape their roots to a more conventional, "better" way of life. The negative stereotypes individuals feel about themselves form from what I am calling "fossils" within each individual that may be molded, transformed, erased, or deepened within the psyche. I am not sure how to present the "fossil" idea in order for people to understand why Appalachians are leaving their states. A fossil could take any shape or size: it is mostly an idea or belief system either inherited or believed by an individual. For example, say I grew up in a rural town in West Virginia (which I did) and my family is very racist. Therefore, I might inherit the racist mentality meaning that I have a fossil of racism. Yet, exposure to a society possible on the media tells me that racism is wrong and we are not supposed to be racist. Therefore, I might try to escape the fossil of racism I have inherited. I am not sure how to present this, but I wanted to present the migration problem in a new way instead of just, "There aren't any jobs in West Virginia. West Virginia is poor." However, what is making today's young West Virginians so ashamed of being from this state and having less than others? I believe it is a mentality within each of us because we see others from other states who are represented with a positive lifestyle with more than what West Virginians may have. I am not sure how to give examples and illustrations of this idea of a fossil within the psyche other than giving close readings of The Bean Trees and how Missy, the main character's, fossils actually are created, formed, morphed, and even erased.
Although my main focus this semester will not be copyediting or dealing with manuscripts, I will have the opportunity to learn how to copyedit under the direction of their hired copyeditor, Chris Clifford, and even participate in revising some of the manuscripts for the journal. One major adjustment that I will have to learn this semester when I copyedit is to change the manuscripts submitted and approved for the journal from MLA format to the journal's accepted Chicago format. Within the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, the most challenging is memorizing how to correctly write the references. Major differences of the Chicago Style from the MLA style include that quotation marks are never used and the date is stated at the begin instead of at the end in an author-date format instead of an author-work format. Why would this format be used? Is it because the dates are more important when referencing in terms of the evidence being accurate and up-to-date instead of merely obviously stating the work the author created?
Currently, until some manuscripts are ready for review and revision, I am working on my project that I will be presenting at the conference. I have a very limited time frame at the conference and I want to tie in my inspiration (Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Bean Trees) and the major problem within Appalachia. My main argument is mostly looking at the problem at a psychological viewpoint as to where the society's negative stereotypes of Appalachia affect Appalachians' beliefs about themselves in to where they want to escape their roots to a more conventional, "better" way of life. The negative stereotypes individuals feel about themselves form from what I am calling "fossils" within each individual that may be molded, transformed, erased, or deepened within the psyche. I am not sure how to present the "fossil" idea in order for people to understand why Appalachians are leaving their states. A fossil could take any shape or size: it is mostly an idea or belief system either inherited or believed by an individual. For example, say I grew up in a rural town in West Virginia (which I did) and my family is very racist. Therefore, I might inherit the racist mentality meaning that I have a fossil of racism. Yet, exposure to a society possible on the media tells me that racism is wrong and we are not supposed to be racist. Therefore, I might try to escape the fossil of racism I have inherited. I am not sure how to present this, but I wanted to present the migration problem in a new way instead of just, "There aren't any jobs in West Virginia. West Virginia is poor." However, what is making today's young West Virginians so ashamed of being from this state and having less than others? I believe it is a mentality within each of us because we see others from other states who are represented with a positive lifestyle with more than what West Virginians may have. I am not sure how to give examples and illustrations of this idea of a fossil within the psyche other than giving close readings of The Bean Trees and how Missy, the main character's, fossils actually are created, formed, morphed, and even erased.
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